How quickly must a criminal trial start in California?

For misdemeanors, within 30 days of arraignment if the defendant is in custody, 45 days if out; for felonies, within 60 days of arraignment on the information. Penal Code section 1382 requires dismissal when these deadlines pass without a valid time waiver or good cause — a deadline that runs in the defendant's favor.

Penal Code section 1382 converts the constitutional speedy-trial right into hard numbers: misdemeanor trial within 30 days of arraignment for defendants in custody and 45 days for those at liberty, felony trial within 60 days of arraignment on the information, and dismissal as the remedy when the deadline passes without good cause. In-custody felony defendants hold a second clock — the 10-court-day right to a preliminary hearing under section 859b. The right is waivable, and most defendants do waive time, converting the statutory deadlines into a schedule the defense helps set; a general waiver can later be withdrawn, which restarts a countdown to trial. Whether to waive is strategic: speed pressures a prosecution that has not assembled its evidence, while time allows investigation, motions, and negotiation. Dismissal under section 1382 is not always the end — Penal Code section 1387 generally lets felonies be refiled once, while most dismissed misdemeanors are barred — so the statute is leverage as much as it is protection.

Authority: Cal. Penal Code § 1382